Agenda and minutes

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda.

If you have a pecuniary interest you must withdraw from the meeting. Normally you should leave the room before the business starts to be discussed. You do, however, have the same right to speak as a member of the public and may remain in the room to enable you to exercise that right and then leave immediately. In either case you must not seek to improperly influence a decision on the matter.

There were no declarations of interest received.

Members of the Committee will receive a verbal update on the work of Lancashire County Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee, by Chorley Council’s representative, Councillor Hasina Khan.

To view the agenda for the last meeting of the Health Scrutiny Committee which took place on 20 September click here.  It contains the report in to the Emergency Care Crisis – Chorley (item 5), and the accompanying attachments.

At the invitation of the Chair and Vice Chair of the Committee, County Councillor Steve Holgate, Chair of Lancashire County Council’s Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee and Chorley Council’s representative from that committee, Councillor Hasina Khan, attended the meeting to talk about the outcome of a recent scrutiny review on the topic of the temporary closure of the Accident and Emergency Department at Chorley hospital. 

Since the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee review had been completed further development had taken place.

In response to public pressure, an independent report had been commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement on the temporary closure of the Accident and Emergency Department.  The report’s findings concluded that the department could re-open on a part-time basis from mid-January once the Urgent Care Unit was fully operational.

During debate, members of the Committee were asked to support the request for an early occupation of the Urgent Care Unit to allow staff redeployment to the Accident and Emergency Department.  This would allow the re-opening of the department to be brought forward to November 2016.

AGREED – That the Chair, on behalf of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee write to the Governing Body of Chorley and South Ribble’s Clinical Commissioning Group seeking the re-opening of the Accident and Emergency Department being brought forward to November 2016.

Councillor Lynch referred to minute 16.OS.51 on PCSO deployment and confirmed that the drop in event had taken place since the last meeting.

AGREED – That the minutes of the last meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 7 July 2016 be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chair. 

To note the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Performance Panel meeting held on 22 September 2016 (enclosed).

AGREED – That the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Performance Panel on 22 September 2016 be noted.

There were no public questions for consideration.

To consider the Executive Cabinet minutes of the meeting held on 30 June 2016 and 25 August 2016.

AGREED - That the minutes of the Executive Cabinet meeting held on 30 June 2016 and 25 August 2016 be received.

To view the latest notice of Executive Decisions click here.

Members considered the Notice of Executive Decisions published on 6 October 2016 which gave notice of key and other major decisions which the Executive Cabinet and Executive Members expected to take.

AGREED – That the Notice of Executive Decisions be noted.

To consider a report that has been presented to the Senior Management Team (enclosed).

The Director of Customer and Digital presented a report which had been considered at a recent meeting of the Senior Management Team.

A total of 426 properties in the borough had been confirmed as flooded as a result of Storm Eva on 26 December 2015.  Following guidance and criteria issued by DCLG and Lancashire County Council to help those people affected, the council was required to set up its own Flood Relief Scheme.  The council’s scheme was made up of a number of different elements based upon the guidance and criteria issued. 

The breakdown financial assistance awarded to those properties affected was as follows –

·         386 domestic propertied confirmed flooded were awarded community grants worth £500.  The total amount of community grants awarded by the council was £193,000 of which £191, 500 had been refunded by DCLG via Lancashire County Council.  The remaining £1,500 had been included as part of a final claim made by Lancashire County Council in early September.

·         Of the 32 businesses confirmed flooded. 22 businesses had received business grants awarded of £2,500 each.  The total amount of business grants awarded amounted to £75,083 which was delivered by BOOST Business Lancashire

·         491 properties qualified for Council Tax Flood Discount worth £182,328, and 10 properties qualified for business rates relief worth £18,362.  The majority of the financial assistance monies had already been refunded by the DCLG.  The remaining amount of monies awarded by the council, which amounted to £59,059 in total, would be claimed for as part of a reconciliation submitted via the flood portal when the discounts ceased. 

As the DCLG had previously acknowledged that interim payments may be required to help councils manages cash flow, the council had requested an interim payment in September.

214 residents also applied to the government for a Property Level Resilience Grant worth up to £5,000 per property.  As part of the application process a survey of each property was carried out to ascertain the most effective form of prevention work appropriate.

The surveys were carried out by Pell Frischmann who had been appointed through a joint procurement exercise with South Ribble Borough Council.  It was reported that there had been elements of disconnect between what some residents wanted, and the recommendations of the experts.  On those occasions, a compromised had been reached.

It was reported that Lancashire County Council was in the process of undertaking a Section 19 investigation to ensure that their legal obligations was met and that affected communities had been identified and appropriate county-wide prioritised actions put in place. Although Lancashire County Council was aware of a number of areas within the borough prone to flooding, those areas would not necessarily be treated with the highest priority when the whole of the county footprint was taken into consideration.

During debate, the Committee raised a number of issues, which included –

·         the criteria required to qualify for financial assistance,

·         types of work undertaken repair damage caused due to flooding, and the resilience work taken place,

·         flooding due to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.OS.63

Members of the Committee will receive a verbal update from the Director of Policy and Governance.

The Director of Policy and Governance provided a verbal update on the position regarding Section 106 Agreements and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) following an Internal Audit investigation in to the identification of missed Section 106 trigger points.

To date, 50 of the 65 agreements had been invoiced totalling over £1 million pounds.  The remaining 15 agreements, totalling over £100 thousand pounds could not be pursued for various reasons.

At a meeting of the Governance Committee held in June, members received a report which provided an update of work undertaken following the identification that trigger points had been missed and to minimise the loss of income to the Council.  The report also highlighted current arrangements and actions taken to ensure that a robust system was now in place and operating effectively. 

Members of the Committee were informed that that the Governance Committee was monitoring this activity to ensure the process was delivered correctly.

AGREED  - That the verbal report be noted.

Report of the Director of Early Intervention and Support (enclosed).

The Committee received a second monitoring report from the Director of Early Intervention and Support which provided an update of progress made against the recommendations of the Task Group review in to Neighbourhood Working which was undertaken in 2014.

Members of the Committee raised a number of concerns that centred round the lack of information which was being communicated to members against each recommendation.  This was supported by reports that information was not forthcoming from lead officers about the progress of neighbourhood area projects and that members had been unaware of the initiatives and events which were detailed in the progress for recommendations seven, eight and nine.  The Director of Policy and Governance acknowledged that better communication was required and that the matter would be addressed.

AGREED – That the report be noted, and that communication issues raised be addressed. 

Report of the Director of Policy and Governance (enclosed).

Members of the Committee received a report from the Chief Executive which provided an update on progress in delivery against the recommendations made at the Overview and Scrutiny Task Group review of public transport issues in Chorley.

The position of Lancashire County Council (LCC) subsidised bus services operating in Chorley now differed to when the review took place.  It was reported that unless the service was commercially viable, no subsidised bus service would operate in Chorley.  However, Chorley Council had temporarily agreed to subsidise two services whilst a sustainable solution was identified.

Members of the Committee were informed that the newly appointed Director of Business, Development and Growth would be responsible for transport issues in the future.

The Committee discussed the report and was satisfied with the progress made to date.

AGREED – That the report be noted, and that the progress made against the recommendations be reviewed at its meeting on 30 March 2017.

To consider the response of the Executive Cabinet to the recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Task Group on the Single Front Office review (enclosed).

Members of the Committee considered the response from the Executive Cabinet to the Overview and Scrutiny Task Group review of the Single Front Office.

All the recommendations put forward from the Task Group had been accepted and the report outlined the actions which would be taken to address each recommendation and also any progress made to date.

Members of the Committee were satisfied with the progress made to date.

AGREED – That the report be noted, and that the progress made against the recommendations be reviewed at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 30 March 2017.

To consider the response to the Executive Cabinet to the recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Task Group of the Staff Sickness Absence review (enclosed).

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Policy and Governance which confirmed that all the recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Task Group review on the topic of staff sickness absence had been accepted by the Executive Cabinet, and detailed the progress made to date.

Jane McDonnell, HR Service Manager attended the meeting to answer questions on the report and progress so far.

It was reported that 30 questionnaires had been completed by employees a minimum of three weeks following their return to work after a period of absence.  A full analysis had not been carried out as HR was waiting for more responses.  However, initial feedback received indicated that employees were satisfied with the council’s procedures for managing sickness absences.

The figure for quarter one showed an increased level of staff sickness absence which totalled 2.01 days lost per employee compared to the target figure of 1.75 days lost per employee.  However, there had been a reduction in the number of days lost when compared with the previous years which totalled 2.19.  It was confirmed that the figures for quarter 2 were reducing slowly.

Members of the Committee expressed their satisfaction with progress made so far.

The Chair, on behalf of the Committee, thanked the HR Service Manager for attending the meeting and responding to questions raised.

AGREED – That the report be noted, and that the progress made against the recommendations be reviewed at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 30 March 2017.

Councillor Roy Lees, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Task Group in to Child Sexual Exploitation will provide a verbal update on the progress of the review so far.

The scoping document for this review is enclosed.

Members of the Committee received a verbal report on the work undertaken by the Overview and Scrutiny Task Group looking in to Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE). 

There had been two meetings to date.  At the first meeting, the Task Group received a presentation on CSE; how it differed from other forms of child abuse and the Council’s responsibility in regards to intelligence gathering, reporting and preventing CSE in Chorley.

Detective Inspector Steve Ryder from Lancashire Constabulary’s Deter Team attended the second meeting and gave an overview of the work his team did, the multi-agency approach used to gather intelligence and share information and with other partners to help support the victims of CSE and their families. The Committee was informed that educating young people about CSE and how to identify signs of grooming was vital to prevent them or their friends from becoming victims of this type of abuse.  As a result the team was working closely with schools to inform and educate pupils, staff and parents about the signs of CSE and grooming.

At the next meeting, representatives from the education sector will be interviewed to find out what schools are doing to educate pupils on the dangers of CSE and encourage better working relations with the Deter Team.

AGREED – That the verbal update be noted.

To consider the Scrutiny Work Programme for 2016/17 (enclosed).

Members of the Committee considered the work programme for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Performance Panel and Task Group topic areas for 2016/17.

AGREED – That the suggested work programme for the Committee, Performance Panel and Task Groups for 2016/17 be confirmed with the following additions -

1.    Water Rates being charged to schools

2.    Communications

Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee are reminded that there will be a special Scrutiny Member Learning Session on  Monday, 24 October 2016 from 5.30pm until 8pm. Steve Sienkiewicz, who is the North West trainer for the Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS) will be delivering this interactive session which will cover how scrutiny works, what it means and how to ‘call in’ a decision, it will also cover the behaviour and culture of scrutiny, encouraging positivity, and looks at the importance of the power to influence.

The session is open to all members to attend and some senior officers.

For refreshment purposes (which will be available from 5pm), if you would like to attend, please can you accept the meeting request that has been sent out to you.

The Chair reminded the Committee that an Overview and Scrutiny Training Member Learning Session was taking place on Monday 24 October 2016 at 5.30pm-8pm.

AGREED – That the training be noted.